Encore Performance: The "Golf Boys" Drop Their Latest Music Video To Rave Reviews

The Golf Boys -- which features PGA Tour players Ben Crane, Rickie Fowler, Hunter Mahan and Bubba Watson -- yesterday released the latest song and music video called "2.Oh.” The follow-up to the '11 release "Oh Oh Oh" was written by singer/songwriter Mat Kearney with Aware Records. The video was directed by Ty Andre (THE DAILY). GOLFCHANNEL.com's Rex Hoggard reported proceeds from the video “will go to charity: water, which builds clean water wells in Ethiopia.” Crane said, “I’m a golfer, first and foremost, but spending one day every few months to create a video that raises money for charity and might grow the game is too good of an opportunity to pass up.” Crane said that the video “has been ready for a few weeks but there was a glitch with iTunes that caused a delay” (GOLFCHANNEL.com, 3/4). Crane said of the new Golf Boys video, “The outfits that we did in the first Golf Boys just went so well we thought, ‘We got to keep the theme going.'” Crane: “When we got done -- we did a two-day shoot in Dallas at our house -- and Hunter looked at me and he goes, ‘I don’t even care if those cameras were turned on, that was so much fun.’" He said he and Kearney started “going down the FedExCup list and naming guys and started rhyming with stuff.” Crane: "It was so cool how he put all the names in and stuff and we just thought, 'Now -- okay, how do we take this song and make it funny?’” He added, “It was a lot of fun, and then to do it in the name of charity: water and helping a lot of people in developing world countries who don’t have clean water. We’re able to raise some money for them doing it in a fun way, maybe grow the game of golf a little bit” (“Morning Drive,” Golf Channel, 3/5). Golf Channel’s Lara Baldesarra said, “I’m glad it benefits something. I don’t think I benefited much from watching that whatsoever” (“Golf Central,” Golf Channel, 3/4).
BEHIND THE MUSIC: Kearney said of the origins of the project, “Ben and I have been friends for a while. I was making jokes about the first song. I said, ‘All you guys are doing are just saying 'Oh, Oh, Oh' a bunch of times.’ He said, ‘Why don't you write us a good one then!’ So I got this hip-hop beat and started thinking of writing puns using golfers' names. It was pretty entertaining. I sent him the song and he said the guys were freaking out about it.” Kearney added, “I just wrote it on a whim. It takes a lot to get four personalities and four managers in line to shoot a video. It was a big undertaking. But they were all in. I know it'll get some love.” Kearney, when asked about the most difficult part of writing the song, said “It was a little hard finding words to rhyme with Louis Oosthuizen. It wasn't coming from my heart but coming from my brain. I started with hot wings at Stuart Applebee's and I just continued down that path” (ESPN.com, 3/4).

REPEAT OFFENDERS: CBSSPORTS.com’s Kyle Porter wrote the video is “everything we wanted and more.” The clothing references “were terrific, but what really took it over the top were the other PGA Tour golfer references” (CBSSPORTS.com, 3/4). CBS Sports Network’s Doug Gottlieb said, “Golf has lacked personality. When I was a kid they used to have Chi-Chi Rodriguez as a personality. That’s not personality. This is personality.” CBS Sports Network’s Allie La Force added, “You think of golfing as a stuck-up, country club-kind of game. This is great, it’s perfect for the sport. They need that attention” (“Lead Off,” CBS Sports Network, 3/4). In Jacksonville, Garry Smits wrote, "And to think they used to tell Lee Trevino he wasn't serious enough" (JACKSONVILLE.com, 3/4).